1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a device that protects young children. More particularly, the present invention relates to a guard device that protects infants from a corner of furniture, glass, or other dangerous conditions in a household setting.
2. Description of the Related Art
Corner guards for tables are known in the art. One such corner guard is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,817,902 to Mason. Mason discloses a two-part corner protector. The corner guard provides for a padded covering of a corner of a structure. The two-part corner protector has a resilient inner core and a separate flexible outer cover that is disposable about the resilient inner core. The two-part corner protector further has a padding therein and has an arrangement of tie strings and an elastic hem. The tie strings and the elastic hem attach the outer member to the inner member and the corner of a table for protection purposes.
The corner guards of the prior art are deficient in their operation. The corner guards have a distinct and asymmetric shape and cannot be used to provide protection for other dangerous conditions such as at an edge of a table adjacent to the corner, over electrical appliances or over a glass windowpane. Although, the corner guard is disposed over the corner, the edge of the table is not protected whatsoever and poses a danger, especially to an infant or toddler. Further, the corner guards of the prior art have a number of corners that may potentially bulge outward, especially when placed adjacent to another second corner guard. Moreover, upon bulging, the prior art corner guards provide no relief when placed over an edge of a table. There is a need in the art, to provide corner guards that have a symmetric shape relative to another second corner guard that prevents such bulging and thus provides relief.
Moreover, the arrangement of tie strings and the elastic hem to attach to the corner of the table although providing cushioning by the padding still do not provide an adequate amount of protection, especially in the instance of a fall where relatively great force occurs relative to a mere bump. For example, if a child were to fall across the corner guard rather than bumping into the corner guard in a perpendicular fashion, the tie strings of the corner guard would be pulled off the corner due to an amount of shear stress applied to the tie strings. The corner guard would slide down the leg of the table and thus leave the corner unprotected.
Further, the corner guard still does not provide adequate protection and the infant may become injured if the corner guard merely has the padding therein. The padding, although absorbing an amount of the force, will deform a great amount in a direction toward the corner that is relatively hard and relatively sharp. This may result in the padded corner still being able to bruise and/or provide discomfort to the infant in a relatively higher force collision.
The corner guard of the prior art still further does not have any shape that would allow the user for selectively add or subtract protection to the corner guard by adding a second corner guard adjacent to or even over the first corner guard to remedy this concern. A parent with a larger infant or relatively busier toddler may wish to have added protection at a number of different locations at the home where danger may be perceived.
The prior art only contemplates adding one corner guard to each corner of the table. The prior art does not contemplate any configuration where the user may wish to selectively add more protection to one corner over another or even add protection to the edge to bolster an overall protection that is offered at a potentially dangerous location in a home, such as for example at a kitchen.
Accordingly, there is a need for a protection device that eliminates one or more of the aforementioned drawbacks and deficiencies of the prior art.
There is also a need to provide a corner protector that has a number of outwardly protruding members that are flexible.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that has an adhesive thereon that is easy to apply to a dangerous location.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that has a symmetric shape.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that may be applied to both a corner and an edge of furniture and all other surfaces.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that can be applied in a modular fashion to selectively increase or decrease apply protection to a dangerous condition.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that has an aesthetically pleasing design being disposed thereon.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that has a body with an outer surface and a number of outwardly protruding members extending from the body defining spaces with the spaces having a complementary size so that outwardly protruding members of another second corner protector may fit therein.
There is a need to provide a corner protector that has a body with an outer surface and a number of outwardly protruding members extending from the body defining spaces that provide relief or non-bulging or non-curling when the bumper is applied to such a surface.